Ragin' Cajun 15 Bean Soup
1 20 oz package "Hurst's Ham Beens" (sic) brand 15 Bean Soup
1 Ham Bone from Honey Baked Ham or 1 smoked turkey leg
1 or 2 Andouille Sausage
2 or 3 tablespoons Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes with Green Pepper, Celery, and
Onion
1 green bell pepper - diced
1 cup diced yellow onion
4 or 5 stalks celery - diced with lots of the leafy stuff
4 or 5 carrots - chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup uncooked rice
Wash the beans in a colander or sieve. If the bag contains
a white packet labled "Ham Flavor", throw it away. We
don't want anything artificial in the soup. Place the
beans in a large pot, at least 6 Quarts. Cover the beans
with water, about 1/3 of the pot full. Add some fresh
ground pepper, ground cumin, and granulated Garlic to
taste. Since the amount of salt in a ham bone varies, I
don't add salt at this point. I wait until the very end to
adjust the salt, or adjust the salt at the table. Bring to
a good boil, then remove from the heat and let sit 1 hour
covered.
While the beans are sitting, prepare the Honey Baked Ham
bone. The Honey Baked Ham store sells ham bones, you do
not need to buy an entire ham. At first they seem
expensive, but there is a lot of ham left on the bone. Cut
off most of the ham remaining on the bone, and all the fat that
is possible. Include the sugary glaze from the ham, as
this has a lot of flavor. Cut the ham into chunks and
refrigerate until later.
After the beans have sat for an hour, put the trimmed ham bone
in the beans. Before putting the ham bone in the beans, I
take a potato peeler and use it to remove the marrow from the
bone and put the marrow in with the beans. This puts the
full flavor of the marrow in the soup and allows water into the
bone so the bone cooks from both inside and out. Bring to
a boil, then simmer for 1 hour. Turn the bone over and
stir the beans occasionally.
About a half hour into the simmering, dice up the onions, bell
pepper, celery, and carrots. Also slice the Andouille,
then cut the slices in halves or quarters.
After the ham bone has simmered for an hour, remove the ham bone
from the beans. Remove any remaining ham from the bone and
add to the soup. Add the Andouille, the reserved ham
chunks, can of tomato sauce, can of diced tomatoes, bell pepper,
onion, celery, carrots, bay leaves, and Worcestershire
sauce. Ajust water as needed. At this point
add 2 Tablespoons of the Creole Seasoning. Bring the soup
back to a boil, then simmer for a hour or two, stirring
occasionally. After the soup has simmered for about
1/2 hour and has let the Andouille release it's spices into the
soup, taste the soup. Adjust the Creole seasonings if
necessary to taste. If I use two Andouille I usually leave
it as is. If I only use one Andouille, I usually add
another tablespoon of Creole seasonings. Before serving,
cook the rice according to package directions, and then add the
rice to the soup.
This is the basic soup, and now you can add anything you
want. If you really like it hot, you can add some red or
green tabasco sauce.